


English Class

by smiledean



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Kissing, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-16 06:22:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29571711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smiledean/pseuds/smiledean
Summary: Dean struggles in his English class, but at least he has Cas to stare at. Unfortunately, Cas's friends are the ones who make Dean's time in class worse.
Relationships: Castiel & Dean Winchester, Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 5
Kudos: 84





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean struggles in his English class, but at least he has Cas to stare at. Unfortunately, Cas's friends are the ones who make Dean's time in class worse.

Dean was intelligent - he _knew_ he was. School was just not the place where he could prove it. There were all the tests, the homework, and the paying attention for 6 hours a day. It was overwhelming. Even though he enjoyed reading, Dean hated English class the most. He read the books, but when it came time to articulate what he was thinking about them, he froze. Kids in class snickered as he rambled answers to the teacher.

Cas never laughed, though. He would look at Dean in earnest, tilting his head, like he was encouraging Dean to get the words out. At least, that's what Dean imagined. Cas was probably just confused and trying to understand what the hell Dean was sputtering.

He sometimes wished he could be friends with Cas. The guy seemed nice, but he was also one of the smart ones - the group who looked down at Dean. They would likely give Cas a "B" for just talking to an idiot like him.

What intrigued Dean about Cas the most was that he often seemed to be in his own world. He liked to draw in his notebooks, Dean observed. Every once in a while, Cas would raise his head up to nod in agreement with the discussion or shift to take a few notes. He was obviously intelligent, but he wasn't one to show off his knowledge in class like the others. He rarely answered questions, but the teacher must have trusted him to have done all the readings since she never called on him either.

At least once a class, Cas would turn to look at him at unfortunately the same moment he happened to be looking at Cas. Dean would quickly bury his head down, feeling the heat rise up his neck. When he was brave enough to take a peek at Cas again, he would notice a faint smile as Cas turned back to his doodling.

Maybe Dean had a little crush on the quiet smart kid - so what. It wasn't like anything would come of it. The guy had tons of friends who were girls and probably made out with them during study sessions. Also, no one knew Dean liked guys anyway, well, except for his best friend Charlie, but she would never tell a soul.

As the weather turned colder and the semester went on, Dean continued to steal glances at Cas and also continued to make a fool of himself. Though, he was proud of the one day he managed to successfully explain some thematic elements from Cat's Cradle to the surprise of himself, the teacher, and the rest of the class. A second win that day was the smile Cas had given him from across the room.

Of course, once you get a win, you also get a loss. A couple weeks later the class finished a Dickens novel, which had taken a toll on Dean’s mind. He preferred modern books with more relatable concepts and themes. It was difficult to relate to rich English people. The teacher was leading a discussion on the novel and, of course, picked on Dean to answer the toughest question. Feeling all eyes on him again, Dean began to ramble a response, trying to remember the characters’ names and plot lines. He mixed up two of the characters and that’s when the laughing began. That group - Cas’s group - and a few other kids in the class were huddling their heads, looking over and giggling at Dean. He finished the answer and the teacher moved on, but many in the class still turned to him and had smirks on their faces.

As soon as the bell rang, Dean hustled out of the room. His heart was beating fast and he knew his cheeks were still red. He didn’t know if he felt angry or embarrassed, or angry that he felt embarrassed. All Dean knew was that he needed to just go home, put on his headphones, and zone out.

He was just about to open the Impala’s door when he heard his name. Looking around a couple times, he finally noticed Cas jogging over to him waving his arm.

“Wait up!” Cas yelled as he narrowly avoided being hit by a car. He stopped a couple feet away from Dean and paused to catch his breath.

"Hey!” he said with his hands on his knees and blue eyes looking up to meet Dean’s. “I just wanted to let you know that I told them off – my friends. I can see you're trying and that's all that matters. I'm sorry they keep acting like jerks."

Dean was a bit shocked to hear that quiet Cas actually said something to them. “Nah, it's alright. I mean thank you for standing up for me, but it's fine. I got thick skin,” he replied, trying to sound like it wasn’t a big deal, even though it totally was.

Cas titled his head a bit and gave Dean that pity look again. “Well even if you can take it, doesn't mean that you should."

There was a silence between them. Dean rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I guess that’s true…um..." He didn’t know what else to say. As much as he stared at Cas in class, he knew very little about him and they definitely had never talked one-on-one before.

Cas seemed to pick up on the awkwardness and looked at the ground. “Would you like to go over the next book with me?" he blurted out.

"What?" Dean was stunned and probably had a dumb look on his face as he tried to comprehend Cas’s question.

Cas’s cheeks turned pink. “I said, would you like to go over the next book with me?”

“No, no, I heard what you said. I’m just surprised you asked.”

"I liked your take on Cat's Cradle and would be interested in hearing what else you have to say," Cas explained, giving Dean the cutest smile.

"You would?" Dean asked, shuffling his feet and feeling like a damn giddy schoolgirl.

"Hey, I know how hard it is to talk in class. I only like taking on questions I definitely know the answer to, like in math. Explaining your inner thoughts about books, which are already up for interpretation, can be difficult. Especially if you know there are some rude people around." Cas rolled his eyes at the last part which made Dean feel even better.

Dean realized how much he was smiling and quickly tried to look less eager. “Um, yeah, I would be up for it then.”

“Also, maybe if we talk things through together it will help both of us answer the questions in class,” Cas suggested.

“Yeah, maybe,” Dean said, fiddling with his keys.

Cas checked his watch and then shot Dean another smile. “Well, I’m glad you’re interested! When we get the reading schedule for the next book, we can figure out a time to get together.”

“That sounds good, Cas, thanks.” Dean still couldn’t believe this was even happening.

“No problem. I may need a new friend anyway.” Cas looked behind him at the busses filling up with students. “OK I really have to catch the bus now, but have a good weekend!” he said waving again as he ran over to the bus that was about to leave. 

“You too!” called Dean, watching Cas get on the bus. He shook his head and was well aware of the stupid grin still plastered on his face. As Dean got into his car, he realized that he was actually looking forward to the next reading assignment for the first time ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> Follow me on tumblr @smiledean


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's finally time for Dean to hang out with Cas. He's nervous, but maybe Cas is too for his own reasons.

“Charlie, what do I do?” Dean moaned with his head on the table in the school library.

“Well first, you should be quieter, because we’re in the library.” Charlie rolled her eyes but put her hand comfortingly on Dean’s back. “And second, you should go talk to him instead of hiding in here with me.”

Dean didn’t respond. He knew Charlie was right, but he also wanted to avoid what was coming next. In class that afternoon, they received their schedule for the next reading, which meant that soon he was going to have to hang out with Cas to discuss the book. So, instead of going right to his car, Dean met Charlie in the library, hopefully the last place Cas would search for him - if he was even trying to find Dean.

“Maybe he’s not even looking for me,” Dean thought aloud.

“You said he turned to you when the schedule got handed out though, didn’t you?” Charlie asked half-heartedly. They had been through this several times in the last thirty minutes and she had homework to get done.

“Yeah, and he smiled too…” Dean reflected, thinking about the cute smile Cas had given him while holding up the paper. But Dean was an idiot and bolted out of the room once the bell rang, because he was scared. Of what, though? His crush? He shook his head. “I guess it’s safe to go to my car now. He usually takes the bus so he should be long gone.”

As he walked towards the parking lot, Dean fished for his keys inside his backpack. When he looked up and spotted the Impala, he stopped. There was Cas, just standing by his car and reading a book.

Dean was about to run back inside to Charlie when he saw Cas glance up and notice him. _Shit_ , Dean thought. There was no avoiding him now. He made his way slowly towards Cas, running through a million different things to say.

“How’s it up?” Dean stammered as he approached Cas, immediately realizing how messed up that came out. “Oh man, I was going to say, ‘how’s it going’ or ‘what’s up’ and that came out instead.” Dean was already hot in the face.

“It’s up pretty well I think,” Cas laughed, winking.

"Well, um, that's good," Dean replied weakly, still processing the wink.

"Um, so the reason I'm stalking you is because we got our assignment today," Cas said holding up the paper. "The book is due on the 12th, so do you want to get together the Friday before? You can come by my house after school since you drive. I'd love to ride home in something other than the bus for a change," Cas laughed again.

"Yeah, sure, that works for me." Dean shrugged, trying to keep his cool.

"Well, I'll see you then! Or actually I'll see you in class a bunch before then...you know what I mean." Cas started to walk back towards the school.

"Hey, do you need a ride? I'm assuming the bus is long gone." Dean called to Cas, secretly hoping for some reason he'd say yes.

"No, I have debate club in a few minutes. But thank you though!" Cas called back with a wave.

The two weeks until Friday the 8th were agonizing. Dean had to keep himself occupied: he actually tried paying attention in his classes, worked on his car after school, and tried not to get caught looking at Cas every day in last period. That task turned out to be difficult since it seemed like Cas was looking at him too, but Dean was probably imagining it to make himself feel less creepy.

Finally, it was Friday and Dean could not keep his leg from bouncing in class. He kept glancing between the clock and Cas. He wondered if Cas was as nervous as he was. _Of course not_ , Dean thought. This was just a study time to go over a book, nothing more.

Instead of racing out of the classroom, today Dean packed his bag slowly at the bell. He jumped as he felt a hand touch his left shoulder.

“You ready?” Cas asked, shrugging on his backpack.

“Uh, yeah, let’s go,” Dean replied, following Cas out of the classroom. In the hallway, he couldn’t help but notice Cas’s friends staring and whispering as they walked by. Cas gave them a wave like it was no big deal and kept walking.

Once they got to the Impala, Dean fumbled and dropped his keys twice before opening the door. _Smooth, very smooth,_ he thought _._

“This is an awesome car, Dean,” Cas said, breaking the silence between them as they got in.

“Thanks, uh, it’s my dad’s car. I like to work on it after school. Probably why I never get my homework done on time,” Dean half-joked. He glanced over and Cas smiled at him, making Dean’s stomach flip.

“I live on Seraph Street, south of downtown,” Cas revealed as they pulled out of the school lot.

The short drive was silent until Cas said, “Here,” in front of a white house. It was nice, definitely nicer than Dean’s home. Though, he was surprised Cas didn’t live in the fancier part of town where he knew Cas’s friends all came from.

Cas stared at the car in the driveway. “Looks like my mom hasn’t left for work yet. She’s, uh, very friendly, just warning you,” Cas grimaced as he opened the front door.

“Hey, mom! I’m home!” Cas called. Dean heard footsteps upstairs and then a woman in scrubs came running down.

“Cas, I’m running late, but there’s some money on the counter for pizza and- oh! Who’s this?” Mrs. Novak stopped in front of Dean, looking between him and Cas.

“Mom, this is Dean, he’s from English class. We’re going over our book together,” Cas explained. Dean held out his hand like he was taught to do.

“Nice to meet you ma’am,” Dean said as Mrs. Novak shook his hand a little too enthusiastically.

“Aw, nice to meet you too Dean. It’s so nice seeing Cas bring a bo- I mean, _someone_ home…from school,” she replied. Seeing Cas’s glare, she quickly gathered her bag, coat, and keys. “Well, I have to go to the hospital now. Have fun you two!”

“Sorry about that. It’s just her and I, so she's very invested in my life.” Cas was looking everywhere but Dean. “We can head to my room. I have all my notes on the reading up there.”

Cas's bedroom was neat, but full of things - books, action figures, posters of space, and even a little statue of an angel on his desk. Cas tossed his backpack on the floor and then stood nervously in the middle of the room as he watched Dean look around.

“So, you said you had some notes?” Dean asked, trying to transition from him staring at all of Cas’s belongings.

“Yeah,” Cas answered, grabbing a few notes from his desk and sitting on his bed. Dean settled down on the floor and took out his own notes and copy of _Frankenstein_.

From there, the two discussed the book, sharing their ideas on the themes and characters. Dean was surprised at how much of what he was saying Cas was writing down. It turned out that talking things through together was actually a great idea.

After about an hour, Dean was getting exhausted. “Man, I don’t know how they expect us to be in school all day and then think like this afterwards too.”

Cas laughed, got off the bed, and sat down on the floor next to Dean. “Tell me about it. I’m so looking forward to next year when we barely have to be in classes and just get to do work on our own time. What are your plans after school? Have you applied to any colleges yet?"

After all this time feeling relaxed, Dean started to tense up again. “Um, no, I'm not sure if that's really for me..." Dean trailed off. To be honest, he barely thought about it. His dad didn’t go, and it seemed like something his little brother Sammy would do instead of him.

"Really? I think you'd do well there. Your takes are more advanced than high school honestly. There are supposedly less jerks in college too because you get to take classes that you’re interested in,” Cas explained. 

“Hm, well I’ll look into then. As long as the classes are better than our English one, I’m sold.” Dean and Cas looked at each other and chuckled. Then, Cas’s face faded as he glanced at the floor, a pensive frown forming.

“What’s up?” Dean asked, getting a bit concerned. He hoped he didn’t say or do anything wrong.

"Can I ask you a question?" Cas’s eyes looked a deeper blue than ever as he turned to Dean.

"You already did," Dean lightly smirked.

Cas smiled a little and rolled his eyes. Then, he looked nervous again as he paused. "Um, do- do you look at me in class? Or do you just catch me looking at you - I mean not that I'm looking at you...uh I just feel like we lock eyes a lot and I didn't know if I was creeping you out or-" Cas rambled, waving his hands around with every stumbling word.

Dean felt his face get hot. _Shit, well clearly he noticed. Be cool,_ he thought.

"Oh, um, I just look around the room a lot because I get bored and I think we just, uh, happen to look at each other at the same time," Dean answered as he rubbed his neck way too much. He looked up at the ceiling wishing Cas would just take that as an acceptable answer.

But Cas didn't respond. Dean turned to take a peek at him. Cas was sitting with his knees to his chest, staring forward at his clasped hands. Finally, he took a deep breath and turned back at Dean.

"I sometimes draw you," Cas confessed. Dean's eyes widened and he sensed his pulse start to race. “I just felt like since we’re kind of friends now, that you should know. That’s why I look at you in class,” he whispered, embarrassed.

Dean was speechless. All those times Cas caught his eye and scribbled in his notebook, he was drawing Dean? _Guess I should probably fess up too_ , he thought.

“Well, if we’re confessing things now…” Dean started, fumbling with the pen in his hands. “I’m not just looking around the room. I'm kind of looking at you too.”

“Really?” Cas asked with a hopeful look.

“Really. Look man, I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, and I’ll probably regret saying this in a second, but I may have a little bit of a crush on you.” Dean couldn’t believe he said that. However, he actually felt a bit better, lighter, after saying it out loud.

Cas got up and grabbed his notebook from the bed. “Do you want to see them? The drawings? They’re not much, but-“ Cas flipped to the back and turned the book to face Dean.

There were little sketches all over, but Dean found his face scattered throughout. There was a sketch of him taking notes, him smiling, and even one with his pen in his mouth. They may have been just pencil doodles, but there was no mistaking the likeness.

“Cas, these are…wow. I’m flattered and impressed. I can’t draw for shit and meanwhile you’re making portraits in class,” Dean laughed, bumping Cas’s shoulder.

“I can do a real sketch of you sometime. An apology for all the staring," Cas offered.

“You don’t need to apologize, but I’d like that,” Dean said, handing Cas his notebook back. Their hands brushed and time seemed to stop as they their eyes met once again.

Cas put the notebook down and moved to face Dean on the floor. He raised a hand to Dean’s cheek, narrowing the gap between them. Dean closed his eyes and leaned in to kiss Cas. His body ran with adrenaline. They started to grab clumsily at each other, deepening the kiss and releasing months of their newly-discovered silent tension.

“Well, that was unexpected,” Dean laughed, still blinking in shock as they pulled apart. “But good, totally good!” He quickly added when he saw regret cross Cas’s face.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Dean assured, smiling.

Cas then stood up and headed to the door. “How about I call in that pizza?”

“Wow, I get a kiss _and_ pizza? I should come over here more often.”

“Maybe you should,” Cas winked, leaving Dean in his room, grinning in disbelief. Maybe English class wasn’t as bad as he thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!  
> Follow me on tumblr @smiledean


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